Many would welcome gays to Scouting

Thursday

Apr 18, 2013 at 12:01 AMApr 18, 2013 at 9:25 AM

I found the April 8 letter "Gays should form own group for youths," from John Zoll, an interesting reflection of what homophobia can do to an individual's capacity to reason. Zoll used terms and phrases such as "duplicitous" and "force themselves into the 'norm' " when describing the efforts of gays in seeking inclusion into the ranks of the Boy Scouts of America.

I found the April 8 letter “Gays should form own group for youths,” from John Zoll, an interesting reflection of what homophobia can do to an individual’s capacity to reason.

Zoll used terms and phrases such as “duplicitous” and “force themselves into the ‘norm' ” when describing the efforts of gays in seeking inclusion into the ranks of the Boy Scouts of America.

He ignored the obvious fact that calls for such inclusion have been gathering force among straight people for some time now (increasingly from within the ranks of the Boy Scouts of America’s membership itself), and that the board vote on the issue scheduled for May is the result as much from the pressures of open-minded allies as it is from the gay “lobby groups” that Zoll claimed are trying to “take apart” the Boy Scouts.

He said the upcoming vote on inclusion is a “free association” issue, and he acknowledged that the board is going to decide “who the BSA will permit to freely associate with.” I wholeheartedly agree.

Why, then, is he so adamant that homosexuals should form their own youth group separate from the Boy Scouts, instead of waiting for the board’s decision? Could it be that he is expressing a fear that enough people within Scouting are ready to freely associate with people whom he obviously disdains?

I think his concerns are overblown. After all, if the BSA actually does vote in favor of expanding its ranks to include gays, Zoll can always follow his own advice and form a youth group that teaches it is morally acceptable to marginalize people whose sexual orientation is different from the majority.

Given the pace at which homophobia and heterosexism are going the way of racism and sexism in this nation, he’s likely to find himself associating with an ever-shrinking minority of those who see homosexuals as bogeymen instead of as human beings worthy of being treated with common decency and respect.